Newsletter

May 5th Proclaimed Lemonade Day

Soldotna Chamber executive director Michelle Glaves, Mayor Peter Micciche, State Lemonade Day director Johnna Golden, & January Yaeger are excited about Lemonade Day on the Kenai.

Cinco de Mayo is a big day on the Kenai Peninsula. There's the River City Rotary Club Salsa competition at the Duck Inn where they will crown the official Salsa Dip champion for 2012 and baseball fans won't want to miss the annual Oiler Gusher event at the old Carrs Mall Saturday evening, and by Mayoral Proclamation Saturday May 5th will be the first official Lemonade Day on the Central Peninsula. "We're excited about it in Soldotna," Soldotna Mayor Micciche told the Chamber of Commerce, "Lemonade Day has a core philosophy of Spend, Save, and Share that is implemented by teaching children how to start, own and operate a business, learn goal-setting, develop a business plan, establish a budget, seek investors, provide customer service and give back to the community, so Saturday we'll have a lot of little business people in our community," he said.

For the State of Alaska this is the second Lemonade Day, last year Anchorage joined the national Lemonade Program and according to Johnna Golden, Lemonade Day state director, it was a huge success, "Last year approximately one thousand youth participated in Anchorage and they gave back $19,000 to the non-profit of their choice and of course that was just a portion of what they earned at their lemonade stands," explained Golden. Locally Soldotna and Kenai Chambers have stepped up to coordinate the day, "It's a perfect fit for our mission of teaching kids to become entrepreneurs and start their own business and understand all the basic elements of business. We have almost 100 kids signed up between Kenai and Soldotna that will have stands in front of local businesses. Credit Union One had a little financial workshop last week for the kids and covered food safety as well, these kids are having a real educational experience and we can't wait for Saturday," said January Yaeger, Soldotna Chamber event coordinator.

A few of the businesses hosting stands include Tammy's Flowers, GCI, Echo Lake Superior Meats, Vida, Mykel's, Aspen Hotels, Safeway in Soldotna and Carrs Safeway in Kenai, Central Peninsula Hospital, The Study, Credit Union 1, Columbia Paint, Sportsman's Warehouse, Jumpin' Junction, Big Daddy's Pizza, and Foster Construction, "The City of Soldotna salutes and commends organizers, volunteers and participants of Lemonade Day, a program that advances life skills, character, and entrepreneurship, and extend best wishes for a successful and rewarding observance," read the official proclamation. A complete list of participating businesses can be seen at www.alaska.lemonadeday.org